4 Installing Oracle Business Intelligence

This chapter describes the process of installing some or all Oracle Business Intelligence components, including Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher, or Oracle Real-Time Decisions. This chapter contains the following sections:

4.1 Before You Install Oracle Business Intelligence

Before you install Oracle Business Intelligence and related components, do the following:

Review the Oracle Business Intelligence chapter in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Release Notes for your platform, to ensure you understand the differences between Oracle Business Intelligence and its documented functionality, and any other issues that apply to the current release.

Verify that you have sufficient administrator privileges to install the software. For example, on computers running Windows 7 or Windows 2008, install Oracle Business Intelligence with the Run as Administrator option enabled.

Ensure that your database is not hardened for security purposes. Installing Oracle Business Intelligence against a hardened database is not supported.

If you plan to install multiple instances of Oracle Business Intelligence on a single computer, decide on a port management strategy. You can either allow Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer to assign the ports for each instance automatically or you can assign them yourself through a custom port configuration file (.ini). If you choose the former method, ensure that all processes are running for any installed instances before you install subsequent instances. This enables Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer to automatically identify and assign ports that are not yet in use. To assign the ports yourself through a custom port configuration file, see Section 4.2.8, "Setting Custom Port Values for Oracle Business Intelligence."

4.2.1 Installing Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.5 Patch Set

If you plan to install the Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.5 patch set over an existing Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.3 instance, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Patching Guide. In particular, the section entitled "Summary of the Patch Set Installation Process" in that guide provides a good overview of the process flow that is typically required to install the patch set for any Fusion Middleware product.

If you plan to install Oracle Business Intelligence on a computer that uses Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), you must perform additional configuration tasks before you install Oracle Business Intelligence. See "Installing on DHCP Hosts" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide.

Oracle Business Intelligence supports many 64-bit Linux, UNIX, and Windows operating systems. For the full list of supported 64-bit operating systems, refer to the "System Requirements and Supported Platforms for Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition 11gR1" document on Oracle Technology Network at the following link:

For all install types (Simple, Enterprise, and Software Only), the steps for installing Oracle Business Intelligence are the same on 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems if you want to use the JDK that is provided with Oracle Business Intelligence. Simply follow the steps provided for those install types whether you're installing on a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system.

4.2.5 Installing Oracle Business Intelligence 11g with Your Own Java Development Kit (JDK)

The Simple Install and Enterprise Install types provide and install, by default, a Java Development Kit (JDK). However, you can choose to install your own JDK. For this, you must use the Software Only Install type in the following process:

Install your JDK. Follow the instructions provided with the documentation for your JDK.

In addition to the requirements described above, be aware of the following:

Oracle Business Intelligence does not support 32-bit JDKs on 64-bit operating systems and 64-bit JDKs on 32-bit operating systems. Ensure that the JDK you install matches the bit architecture of your operating system.

If you install a 32/64-bit hybrid JDK on a 64-bit operating system, ensure that it is deployed in 64-bit mode. On UNIX and Linux, this can be accomplished by using the -d64 flag when installing Oracle WebLogic Server.

If you install your own 64-bit JDK, ensure that your JAVA_HOME refers to it. You can check this by running the java -version command or the java -d64 -version command (on UNIX or Linux operating systems using a 32/64-bit hybrid JDK). For this and other considerations related to installing 64-bit JDKs, see "Installing WebLogic Server on 64-Bit Platforms Using a 64-Bit JDK" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle WebLogic Server.

4.2.6 Installing Oracle Business Intelligence 11g on a Computer that Contains Oracle Business Intelligence 10g

If you plan to install Oracle Business Intelligence 11g on a computer running a Microsoft Windows operating system, ensure that the environment variable _JAVA_OPTIONS is not set. To verify whether or not _JAVA_OPTIONS is set, do one of the following:

Open a command prompt, navigate to the C:\ prompt, and enter the following command:

set _JAVA_OPTIONS

If you receive a message "Environment variable _JAVA_OPTIONS not defined", the variable is not set.

On your desktop, right-click My Computer and select Properties to open the System Properties dialog. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Environment Variables. In the Environment Variables dialog, look for the _JAVA_OPTIONS variable in User Variables and System Variables list boxes. If the _JAVA_OPTIONS variable does not appear in either of these list boxes, the variable is not set.

If you determine that the _JAVA_OPTIONS variable is set, or if you have any related questions, contact your system administrator.

4.2.8 Setting Custom Port Values for Oracle Business Intelligence

When the Enterprise Install type is selected, the Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer enables you to set custom Oracle Business Intelligence port values in a configuration file (.ini). You can create the configuration file manually using one of the following methods:

Create the file from scratch in a text editor and save it in the .ini format.

Copy the sample staticports.ini file provided with the Oracle Business Intelligence installation package and edit the copied file in a text editor.

The sample staticports.ini file contains a template for setting custom port values for Oracle Business Intelligence components. You can find the sample staticports.ini file using one of the following methods:

If you downloaded and extracted the Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer .zip file, access the bi_installer_loc/Disk1/stage/Response directory.

If you have the Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer DVD, insert the DVD into your computer and access the Disk1/stage/Response directory.

In your configuration file, enter the keys and values for your custom port values using the following format:

key = value

where key is the Oracle-defined key for the component and value is the port number for that component.

For example, to assign a custom port value for Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Services, enter the following string:

Oracle BI Presentation Services Port No = 9705

To uncomment a line that contains a port value in staticports.ini, delete the pound sign (#) at the beginning of that line.

You may assign any file name to your configuration file. However, you must append the file name with the .ini file extension and save the file in a location that is accessible to the computer where you plan to run the Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer. When you install Oracle Business Intelligence, the Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer enables you to specify the configuration file that contains your custom port values.

4.2.9 Specifying a Database Connect String

During the Oracle Business Intelligence installation, you specify a database connect string for the BIPLATFORM and MDS schemas. The connect string is required for all installation types.

The format that you use for the connect string depends on your database type, as follows:

Database Type

Format

Description

Example

Oracle Database

host:port:service_name

host is the fully qualified name of the computer that hosts your database

port is the port number over which your database communicates

service_name is the service name, or alias, assigned to your database

yourcomputer.yourcompany.com:1526:bi

Oracle Database with Oracle RAC

host1:port1:instance1^host2:port2:instance2[@service_name]

hostn is the fully qualified name of the computer that hosts your database

portn is the port number over which your database communicates

instancen is the name of your database instance

service_name (optional) is the service name, or alias, assigned to your database

This section describes how to use Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer to install Oracle Business Intelligence components on Windows, Linux, and UNIX operating systems. This section is organized by the following install types:

Simple install: Installs Oracle Business Intelligence components with the default settings on a single computer in the minimum number of steps. For complete details, refer to Section 4.5.1, "Simple Install."

Software only install: Installs software binary files in a Middleware home for later configuration, such as in an empty Oracle WebLogic Server domain or in a Middleware home that was previously created by another Oracle Fusion Middleware product installation (for example, Oracle SOA Suite). This is useful if your goal is to have multiple domains or products share a common Middleware home.

4.5.1 Simple Install

Select the Simple Install type when you want to install a standalone instance of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher, or Oracle Real-Time Decisions with the default settings in the minimum number of steps. The Simple Install type deploys all selected applications to a single WebLogic Server instance and is ideally suited for demonstration, evaluation, and proof-of-concept purposes.

4.5.1.1 Considerations and Limitations for the Simple Install Type

The following considerations and limitations apply to the Simple Install type:

The Simple Install type is intended for installing standalone instances of Oracle Business Intelligence. You cannot scale out, add components to, or use the Configuration Assistant on instances of Oracle Business Intelligence that were installed with the Simple Install type.

Unlike the Enterprise Install type, the Simple Install type does not install a Managed Server. Furthermore, with Simple Install type, components that typically exist in the Managed Server (logically speaking) are provided in the Administration Server instead.

If you have software updates available locally, you can specify the location by using this option. In the Local Directory field, enter the location of the directory that contains the software updates, or click Browse to navigate to and select the directory.

If you specify a directory that exists, it must be empty. If you specify a directory that does not yet exist, Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer creates the directory for you.

Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer designates the directory as the Middleware home. Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer also creates the Oracle home, Instance home, WebLogic home, and Domain home within this location.

After you specify the directory, click Next.

On the Administrator Details screen, specify the user name and password for the system administrator for the new Oracle Business Intelligence system, and then click Next.

On the Configure Components screen, all products are selected by default. Click the check box next to each component that you do not want to install now.

Select all the products that you want or might want to install. You cannot install some products now and then install others later in the current domain.

Note:

If you choose to install Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher is installed automatically.

On the Installation Summary screen, click Save to save the settings for this installation in a response file (optional). The installer prompts you for a name for the response file and a location where to save it.

Note:

If your only intent for running the installer was to create a response file, you can exit the installer at this point. You do not need to complete the installation. To exit the installer, click Cancel.

To continue with the installation, click Install.

On the Installation Progress screen, you can monitor the progress of your installation. To stop the installation, click Cancel.

Note:

As the installation progresses, a WebLogic Server command window might appear temporarily. Ignore the command window, as it is expected and closes automatically.

On the Configuration Progress screen, you can monitor the progress of your software configuration and respond to errors, if any occur.

If a configuration task fails, an error message appears. To retry the task, click Retry. To continue with the next task, click Continue (not recommended). To stop the installation and configuration process entirely, click Abort.

Some postinstallation tasks are required, depending on your situation, while others are optional. For example, if you installed Oracle Business Intelligence on a computer running a Linux or UNIX operating system, and you want to use Oracle Business Intelligence client tools, you must run the Oracle Business Intelligence Client Tools installer on a computer running a Windows operating system. See Section 5.1, "Installing and Uninstalling Oracle Business Intelligence Client Tools."

4.5.2 Enterprise Install for New Installations

The Enterprise Install type enables you to install a new Oracle Business Intelligence system for a hosted deployment on one or more computers. When you select the Enterprise Install type for a new installation, Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer installs the Oracle Business Intelligence components that you select, such as Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher, and Oracle Real-Time Decisions.

4.5.2.1 Considerations and Limitations of Enterprise Install Type for New Installations

The following considerations and limitations apply to the Enterprise Install type for new installations:

Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer automatically assigns the Node Manager port (default is 9556), unless you specify your Oracle Business Intelligence ports manually using a configuration file such as staticports.ini (see Section 4.2.8, "Setting Custom Port Values for Oracle Business Intelligence"). However, if you are installing Oracle Business Intelligence into a shared Fusion Middleware home where Node Manager is installed, Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer uses the existing Node Manager and its port number.

Do not use the Enterprise Install type if you are installing on a 64-bit operating system and you intend to use the pasteBinary script as part of your test to production strategy. In this case, use the Software Only Install type instead. See Section 4.5.4, "Software Only Install."

Specify Ports Using Configuration File: Configure the ports using a configuration file that you specify. Click Browse to navigate to your configuration file and click View/Edit to view and edit it. If you edit the file, click Save to save your changes.

If you have software updates available locally, you can specify the location by using this option. In the Local Directory field, enter the location of the directory that contains the software updates, or click Browse to navigate to and select the directory.

If you select the latter option, you must specify a configuration file that contains the custom port values for your Oracle Business Intelligence installation. Click Browse to navigate to the file and click View/Edit to view and edit it. If you edit the file, click Save to save your changes.

Note:

Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer automatically assigns the Node Manager port (default is 9556), unless you specify your Oracle Business Intelligence ports manually using a configuration file such as staticports.ini (see Section 4.2.8, "Setting Custom Port Values for Oracle Business Intelligence"). However, if installing Oracle Business Intelligence into a shared Fusion Middleware home where Node Manager is installed, Oracle Business Intelligence Platform Installer uses the existing Node Manager and its port number.

On the Installation Summary screen, click Save to save the settings for this installation in a response file (optional). The installer prompts you for a name for the response file and a location where to save it.

Note:

If your only intent for running the installer was to create a response file, you can exit the installer at this point. You do not need to complete the installation. To exit the installer, click Cancel.

To continue with the installation, click Install.

On the Installation Progress screen, you can monitor the progress of your installation. To stop the installation, click Cancel.

Note:

As the installation progresses, a WebLogic Server command window might appear temporarily. Ignore the command window, as it is expected and closes automatically.

On the Configuration Progress screen, you can monitor the progress of your software configuration and respond to errors, if any occur.

If a configuration task fails, an error message appears. To retry the task, click Retry. To continue with the next task, click Continue (not recommended). To stop the installation and configuration process entirely, click Abort.

Some postinstallation tasks are required, depending on your situation, while others are optional. For example, if you installed Oracle Business Intelligence on a computer running a Linux or UNIX operating system, and you want to use Oracle Business Intelligence client tools, you must install another instance of Oracle Business Intelligence on a computer running a Windows operating system. See Section 5.1, "Installing and Uninstalling Oracle Business Intelligence Client Tools."

4.5.3 Enterprise Install to Scale Out Existing Installations

The Enterprise Install type enables you to scale out an existing enterprise installation of Oracle Business Intelligence. When you select the Enterprise Install type to scale out an existing installation, Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer installs all Oracle Business Intelligence components that were installed on the primary host computer of the cluster, which you must specify. For example, if you installed Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition and Oracle Real-Time Decisions on the primary host, Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer installs only those two products on other computers in the cluster.

4.5.3.1 Considerations and Limitations of Enterprise Install Type for Scaling Out Existing Installations

The following considerations and limitations apply to the Enterprise Install type when scaling out existing installations:

Scaling out Oracle Business Intelligence installations that were previously installed with the Simple Install type is not supported.

Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer supports scaling out existing installations by installing each node of an Oracle Business Intelligence cluster on its own computer. This is referred to as "horizontal scaling." The instructions for this type of scaling are providing in this section. Do not use Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer to vertically scale an installation, that is, do not install two or more nodes of an Oracle Business Intelligence cluster on the same computer. The steps for vertical scaling are provided in Chapter 6 "Scaling Your Deployment" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer automatically assigns the Node Manager port (default is 9556), unless you specify your Oracle Business Intelligence ports manually using a configuration file such as staticports.ini (see Section 4.2.8, "Setting Custom Port Values for Oracle Business Intelligence"). However, if installing Oracle Business Intelligence into a shared Fusion Middleware home where Node Manager is installed, Oracle Business Intelligence Platform Installer uses the existing Node Manager and its port number.

Before scaling out your system, you must verify that every computer where you plan to scale out can access (ping) the primary host computer of your cluster using its fully qualified domain name and can access the Oracle Business Intelligence install directory on that computer. For the installation to succeed, every computer where you scale out your installation must be able to support bidirectional communication with the Administration Server on the cluster's primary host and can access the Oracle Business Intelligence install directory.

Before initiating the scale out installation procedure, ensure that you are not logged in to the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

Specify Ports Using Configuration File: Configure the ports using a configuration file that you specify. Click Browse to navigate to the file and click View/Edit to view and edit it. If you edit the file, click Save to save your changes.

If you have software updates available locally, you can specify the location by using this option. In the Local Directory field, enter the location of the directory that contains the software updates, or click Browse to navigate to and select the directory.

If you select the latter option, you must specify a configuration file that contains the custom port values for your Oracle Business Intelligence installation. Click Browse to navigate to the file and click View/Edit to view and edit it. If you edit the file, click Save to save your changes.

Note:

Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer automatically assigns the Node Manager port (default is 9556), unless you specify your Oracle Business Intelligence ports manually using a configuration file such as staticports.ini (see Section 4.2.8, "Setting Custom Port Values for Oracle Business Intelligence"). However, if installing Oracle Business Intelligence into a shared Fusion Middleware home where Node Manager is installed, Oracle Business Intelligence Platform Installer uses the existing Node Manager and its port number.

On the Installation Summary screen, click Save to save the settings for this installation in a response file (optional). The installer prompts you for a name for the response file and a location where to save it.

Note:

If your only intent for running the installer was to create a response file, you can exit the installer at this point. You do not need to complete the installation. To exit the installer, click Cancel.

To continue with the installation, click Install.

On the Installation Progress screen, you can monitor the progress of your installation. To stop the installation, click Cancel.

Note:

As the installation progresses, a WebLogic Server command window might appear temporarily. Ignore the command window, as it is expected and closes automatically.

On the Configuration Progress screen, you can monitor the progress of your software configuration and respond to errors, if any occur.

If a configuration task fails, an error message appears. To retry the task, click Retry. To continue with the next task, click Continue (not recommended). To stop the installation and configuration process entirely, click Abort.

Some postinstallation tasks are required, depending on your situation, while others are optional. For example, if your scaled out enterprise installation uses an IBM DB2 or Microsoft SQL Server database, you must create an ODBC data source name on each Oracle Business Intelligence node. See Section 5.3, "Creating a DSN for IBM DB2 or Microsoft SQL Server."

4.5.4 Software Only Install

The Software Only Install type enables you to install Oracle Business Intelligence software binary files in an Oracle home for later configuration.

You can use the Software Only Install type to complete the installation segment of the following scenarios:

Perform an Enterprise Install

Scale out an existing Enterprise Install

Note, the Software Only Install type is required to perform one of the following additional scenarios:

When you select the Software Only Install type, Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer installs the software binary files for all Oracle Business Intelligence components, including Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher, and Oracle Real-Time Decisions. Afterward, you use the Oracle Business Intelligence Configuration Assistant to configure the components you installed. See Section 5.2, "Configuring Oracle Business Intelligence with the Configuration Assistant."

4.5.4.1 Considerations and Limitations for Software Only Install Type

The following considerations and limitations apply to the Software Only Install type:

The Software Only Install type can be used if you ultimately want an "enterprise install" of Oracle Business Intelligence. The Software Only Install type does not support "simple installs." Use the Simple Install type instead.

To install Oracle Business Intelligence with your own JDK rather than the one that is provided with Oracle WebLogic Server, you must first install the JDK before installing Oracle WebLogic Server and Oracle Business Intelligence.

If you intend to use the Software Only Install type as part of your strategy to later extend an existing Oracle WebLogic Server domain, ensure the following:

The domain is empty, that is, no other software products exist in the domain.

The domain physically exists on the same computer where you plan to install and configure Oracle Business Intelligence. Extending domains remotely is not supported.

To scale out your installation using the Software Only Install type on a shared network drive and with a shared Fusion Middleware home, you must specify the same domain home for all computers in your cluster. This can be accomplished by setting the same value in the Domain Home field in the Scale BI System Details screen of the Configuration Assistant. Using the same domain home for all computers in a scaled-out system with a shared Middleware home is required to start one or more managed servers within a domain through Node Manager.

If you have software updates available locally, you can specify the location by using this option. In the Local Directory field, enter the location of the directory that contains the software updates, or click Browse to navigate to and select the directory.

On the Installation Summary screen, click Save to save the settings for this installation in a response file (optional). The installer prompts you for a name for the response file and a location where to save it.

Note:

If your only intent for running the installer was to create a response file, you can exit the installer at this point. You do not need to complete the installation. To exit the installer, click Cancel.

To continue with the installation, click Install.

On the Installation Progress screen, you can monitor the progress of your installation. To stop the installation, click Cancel.

Note:

As the installation progresses, a WebLogic Server command window might appear temporarily. Ignore the command window, as it is expected and closes automatically.

On the Installation Complete screen, click Save to save the settings for this installation in a response file (optional), and then click Finish to exit Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer.

4.6 Installing Oracle Business Intelligence in Silent Mode

This section describes how to install Oracle Business Intelligence from the command line in silent mode. Silent installation eliminates the need to monitor the Oracle Business Intelligence installation because no graphical output is displayed and no input by the user is required.

4.6.1 What is a Silent Installation?

Silent installation of Oracle Business Intelligence is accomplished by supplying the installation program with a response file and using the -silent flag on the command line. The response file is a text file containing variables and parameter values that provide answers to the installation program prompts.

4.6.2 Creating Response Files

Before performing a silent installation, you must provide information specific to your installation in a response file. If you attempt to install using a response file that is not configured correctly, the installation program is very likely to fail.

You can create response files manually in a text editor or automatically in the Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer (recommended). With the latter method, you run the installer and select your installation preferences in each installation screen. Then, on the Installation Summary screen, you click Save. The installer prompts you for a name for the response file and a location where to save it. After you specify this information, you can exit the installer. You do not need to complete the installation.

After you create a response file, you can use it to replicate the installation on other systems, or you can modify it in a text editor as needed.

4.6.2.1 Command Line Variables

Installer Variables

Installer variables are specified using VarName=value. For example:

ORACLE_HOME=/home/Oracle/Middleware/as_1

Session Variables

Session variables are specified using session:varName=value.

Component Variables

Component variables are specified using session:compInternalName:[Version:]varName=value.

4.6.3 Creating the oraInst.loc File

The Oracle inventory directory is used by the installation program to keep track of all Oracle products installed on the computers running. The inventory directory is stored in a file called oraInst.loc (on UNIX and Linux). If this file does not exist on your system, the installation program creates it automatically.

4.6.4 Pre-Installation Tasks

If this is the first time you are installing on your system (meaning there is no pre-existing Oracle inventory location), Oracle recommends that you validate that your environment meets the installation requirements. You can perform this task interactively or silently.

To interactively validate that your environment meets the installation requirements, run the following command, depending on your operating system:

On UNIX:

./runInstaller -validate

On Windows:

setup.exe -validate

To silently validate that your environment meets the installation requirements, run the following command, depending on your operating system:

4.7 Troubleshooting the Installation and Configuration Processes

For more information about a specific error or warning that appeared during the installation process, refer to the installation log file. The location of the installation log file depends on your operating system and on where you opted to create the oraInventory directory for the first Oracle product you installed (that is, if multiple Oracle products are installed on the current computer).

The following are the default locations for supported operating systems:

UNIX:

USER_HOME/oraInventory/logs/

Windows:

C:\Program Files\Oracle\Inventory\logs\

If your installation did not conclude successfully or if you terminated the installation process during the Configuration phase, you must clean up your failed or terminated installation before you attempt to install Oracle Business Intelligence again. The deinstallation process that you follow depends on the type of installation you attempted. For example, if you attempted to install Oracle Business Intelligence on a single computer, see Section 6.1.1, "Deinstalling Oracle Business Intelligence on a Single Computer." For the list of supported deinstallation processes, see Section 6.1, "Deinstallation Scenarios."

Furthermore, some tasks in a particular deinstallation process might not be relevant to your situation, depending on which task or tasks failed during your installation attempt. For example, if the installation failed before the installer created an Oracle Business Intelligence instance, then the procedure for deinstalling the instance (described in Section 6.4.2, "Deinstalling Oracle Business Intelligence Instances") does not apply and should not be followed.

4.8 Reinstalling Oracle Business Intelligence

The installer does not allow reinstallation of Oracle Business Intelligence in a directory that contains another Oracle Business Intelligence installation. To reinstall Oracle Business Intelligence in the same directory as before, first deinstall the software as described in Chapter 6, "Deinstalling Oracle Business Intelligence." Then, return to this chapter and follow the installation instructions that best match your needs.

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